Whose view? From where? — October 2012

Several of you knew exactly where last month's photo was taken. Glad to hear so many of you interacting with it!

"That's the pedestrian bridge located a couple of hundred yards downstream from the Plymouth Avenue Bridge framing the outlet of a destroyed creek/drainage ditch into the Mississippi River off of West River Road in downtown Minneapolis. It's a favored haunt of spawning carp each spring and abandoned cats at the end of each semester (one of whom now lives with us). I do not know the name of the tributary, but it's a peaceful setting I travel through almost daily that also reminds us of how much we need to do.
— David Fulton

"This is on the downtown Minneapolis side of the river, across from Boom Island, a little channel with a walk/bike path across it, along West River Road."
— Prudence Johnson

"I'd say this placid backwater scene is in Minneapolis, just north of West River Parkway, roughly across from Boom Island. I run the paved and unpaved trails along the river and love running across pedestrian bridges. I always think of architect Cesar Pelli's quote, ‘Every bridge is a gift to the city."
— Kate Havelin

"The image is of the Bassett Creek outlet. It's just downstream, river right from the Plymouth Ave bridge."
— Matthew Pahs

"I believe this is where Bassett Creek empties into the Mississippi just below the Plymouth Avenue Bridge on the downtown side. This creek starts in Medicine Lake and runs the last two miles completely underground beneath downtown Minneapolis."
— Eric Otterness

Indeed, it is the old Bassett Creek tunnel. As David Stack expands:

"Bassett's Creek flowed into the Mississippi River here until 1992, when it was diverted into a newly constructed tunnel. The new, and larger, tunnel now outlets Bassett's Creek in the vicinity of the Stone Arch Bridge. This old tunnel now drains local storm water, and overflow Bassett's Creek water during high water events."

And Jennifer Sly sheds some light on Bassett's nomenclature: "I believe the photo is of the historic mouth of Bassett Creek near the Plymouth Avenue Bridge. According to Warren Upham in his 1920 book ‘Minnesota Geographic Names, the creek is named after Joel Bean Bassett, an early settler and lumberman who lived at the mouth of the creek."

Thanks for all your terrific entries!

And in case you were wondering precisely where Bassett Creek flows and connects, you can take a look at this map of the creek and its watershed, including the underground portions of its journey around downtown Minneapolis, courtesy of the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Organization.

About Whose view? From where?

Each month in this section, we feature a photo somewhere along the river corridor in the Twin Cities that is in some way significant or important or just plain scenic. Individuals may then e-mail us and identify the view and explain why they believe it is significant to the community or important to them personally. Well publish some of your responses in the next issue of Mississippi Messages, where we will also reveal the correct answer.

To submit your guess and response, e-mail Bob Spaulding, River Advocate, through our contact form. The respondent to provide the first correct identification of the view and hopefully some interesting thoughts about its significance will receive a valuable prize for their effort. All entries must be received by the first day of the following month for consideration.